A University of Otago law student team has won its way into the international final of a World Trade Organisation mooting competition, to be held in Europe next month.
The team of final year students, Emma Foley, Jeremy Stewart and Brierly Broad, all aged 21, reached the final after gaining second place in the Asia Pacific regional round of the competition, contested by 16 teams in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, last month.
The team is coached by Tracey Epps, a trade lawyer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a part-time senior lecturer in law at Otago University.
Organised by the European Law Students Association (Elsa), the Elsa World Trade Organisation Moot is a simulated hearing in the WTO dispute settlement system.
The final will start in France on May 23, and continue in Switzerland.
The Otago team had earlier worked over summer to prepare extensive written submissions, and then presented its submissions to panels of trade law experts in Taipei.
In the final against Melbourne University, the Otago students faced searching questions from a nine-member panel that included two former WTO appellate body members.
Miss Foley was "pretty excited" to have performed well in Taipei, and said "mastering the law" would be crucial in the final.
Miss Broad said it was important to adjust their presentations to the approach being taken by the judges.
As the final loomed, Mr Stewart said that prospect was "a little bit daunting but exciting as well".
Sixteen teams will contest the final, which will be staged initially at Evian, in southeast France, and in Geneva, the Swiss capital.
The teams will argue a case involving a dispute between the fictional nations of Russelia and Aldousia.
Russelia prohibits imports of cloned sheep because of claimed risks to human and animal health resulting from the cloning technology.
As a complainant, Aldousia alleges violation of a WTO agreement on the matter.
